


and then i was flying

by grassdirt



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kitagawa Daiichi, Platonic Relationships, anyways platonic iwaoi is underrated so here u go, iwa is a good friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:02:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26961091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grassdirt/pseuds/grassdirt
Summary: oikawa tooru was born to reach the stars.everything he did was to fly a little bit higher; get a little closer to the sky.[and iwaizumi thought he had already reached them]
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime & Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	and then i was flying

Oikawa Tooru was born to reach the stars. 

Everything he did was to fly a little bit higher; get a little closer to the sky. 

He was six when he watched a volleyball game for the first time. It was nothing special- a subpar high school game, which he had only agreed to attend because his older sister’s boyfriend was on the team. But even as he watched the players stumble after the ball and lose countless points to net violations, his heart was bursting. They were jumping. They were  _ flying. _

So Oikawa started playing volleyball. And because Oikawa was doing it- and Iwaizumi knew he would follow Oikawa anywhere- Iwaizumi began playing, too.

It started as a hobby, a way to pass time on lazy summer days. Then middle school came, and volleyball consumed everything. Oikawa would stay at the gym, practicing until midnight. When he wasn’t on the court, the setter would lock himself up in his room, watching and analyzing match after match. 

Iwaizumi noticed it all. He was a light sleeper and always found it exceptionally difficult to fall asleep; his room was next to his parents’, which, combined with his dad’s loud snoring and the insultingly thin walls, meant that he often went jogging around the neighborhood at night. Every time, he would pass Oikawa’s house, and glance at his best friend’s bedroom window. His furrowed brow would be met by the artificial glow of Oikawa’s lights and the faint buzz of television. He told himself it was just a habit- too many years with a clingy, obnoxious prick would do that to someone, wouldn’t it? Yet, no matter how much he tried to ignore it, the worry was always there, a constant ache that yielded to no amount of distraction.

Spring arrived, and along with cherry blossoms came the looming shadow of competition. Oikawa’s stress was evident, enough so that their coach pulled him aside for a private conversation after practice one day. Iwaizumi only heard snippets, but he caught the strain in his friend’s voice.

“Oikawa, you seemed distracted today… are you sure you’re up for the match next week?”

A pregnant pause. And then, in Oikawa’s falsely cheerful voice, “No, no, sensei, I promise I’m alright- just a bit tired today, is all…”

Iwaizumi couldn’t think of anyone but Oikawa for the rest of the day. He hadn’t stayed after practice to prevent the setter from overworking himself like usual, as some overseas relatives were visiting. 

_ (11:43)  _ **_Shittykawa if ure still at the gym Im gonna kill u_ **

_ (11:45)  _ **_I know u saw that message_ **

_(11:46)_ _iwaaa_

_ (11:46) i was sleeping ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚ _

_ (11:47) i can’t keep this face without beauty sleep~~~ _

_ (11:47)  _ **_Whyd u respond so quickly then, sleeping beauty?_ **

_ (11:47) … _

_ (11:48) did- _

_ (11:48) did iwa-chan just call me beautiful?? _

_ (11:48) i’m screenshotting that <333 _

Iwaizumi exhaled in frustration- given how quickly Oikawa responded, he was probably up analyzing some old game recording. 

_ (11:49)  _ **_Im coming over_ **

His bedroom hadn’t changed at all in the past nine years. The same tacky glow-in-the-dark stars still riddled the ceiling. His porcupine stuffed animal still sat on the bed (“I bought it because it reminded me of you, Iwa-chan!”).

Oikawa was sitting on the floor, swaddled in blankets, too focused on a recording of the national volleyball team to notice Iwaizumi enter. 

That was where Oikawa always said he would play one day. He had always been so sure of it. One day, when he could jump high enough; when his serve was strong enough, he would stand under those same fluorescent lights. The crowd would cheer, and he maybe could finally be enough. 

But that was the problem, wasn’t it? Oikawa would never be enough- not to himself, anyway. His whole life was focused around pursuing some far-away goal, but what would he do once he inevitably reached it? 

“Oi, Trashykawa!” 

Oikawa flinched and took off his headphones. “Iwa-chan, breaking and entering is illegal.”

The playful exaggerated pout was clearly a mask. His hair was unbrushed and dry, and dark circles decorated his under eyes like bruised rose petals. 

“Whatever. C’mon, there’s this new mochi shop I wanna try.”

“But-”

“No buts. Get your ass up, and  _ let’s go _ .”

The mochi turned out to be delicious. The truth was, Iwaizumi didn’t usually like mochi- Oikawa knew that- but it was the first place that popped into his head. They ordered three pieces each; red bean for Iwaizumi and chocolate for Oikawa, because he refused to eat anything that didn’t consist solely of sugar. 

Sitting on the curbside with his best friend, Iwaizumi felt like he was in elementary school again, eating popsicles with Oikawa in the sweltering July sun. Only the sky was black now, and the only light came from the gentle silver glow of the moon. They were no longer children, naive and indifferent to their futures. The world around the had changed, and somewhere along the way, they had been forced to change, too. Yet, why did this feel so familiar? Why did it feel like a hundred nights long gone, nights that had occurred so many times that they’d become nameless. Different on the surface, but if he closed his eyes, exactly the same.

Iwaizumi laid down on the pavement, staring out at the night sky. The stars pulsed in the darkness, almost like someone watching over them. He could list every star in the sky- Oikawa’s doing, of course.

The princess, Andromeda, and her crown jewel, Alpheratz.

Her mother, Cassiopeia danced gracefully across dark, besides the hero, Perseus.

They were so high in the sky, high enough that Iwaizumi couldn’t begin to think of reaching them. Perhaps if he had wings- no, deep inside Iwaizumi’s mind, he knew he couldn’t. There was only one person who could dream of reaching those heights, and yet he believed-

“I can’t fly.”

It was less than a whisper; an exhale, really, standing in stark contrast to Oikawa’s usual bravado-filled proclamations. His eyes were wide and glistening, staring down at his untouched mochi.

“I can’t fly, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa looked up then, his voice cracking, “No matter how hard I try,  _ I can’t fly _ . It’s like… like I’m rooted to the ground or something. And other people- people who haven’t worked as hard as me, people who don’t stay after practice  _ every day _ \- why are those people flying?”

“Is this about Kageyama?” Iwaizumi asked, his voice uncharacteristically gentle. 

Oikawa stood up, mochi long forgotten. “He’s a genius! How am I supposed to compete against a fucking genius? Compared to people like Tobio-chan, I’ll always be ordinary and I can’t-”

His words stopped in his throat as a pair of strong hands grabbed his shoulders. “You’re not ordinary.”

“That’s not true-”

“You are not ordinary,” Iwaizumi’s voice was dangerously low now. “You’re irreplaceable, Oikawa, you hear me? Don’t ever talk about yourself like that. You will fly- I’ll make sure of it.”

Iwaizumi left without another word. Oikawa stood frozen as his figure faded into the distance. Somewhere along the way, rain had begun to fall. To Iwaizumi, it felt hot, like pain- the pain of having the most important person in his life feel so small. And to Oikawa, the rain felt like a hug. It felt like the reassurance that Iwaizumi would always be there.

And while Oikawa wasn’t quite flying yet, that night, he felt just a little bit lighter.

_ You are the dawn of a new day that's waking _

_ A masterpiece still in the making _

**Author's Note:**

> platonic iwaoi makes me stupidly happy so i wrote that cheesy un-betaed mess. anyways kudos and comments feed my soul and are greatly appreciated!!
> 
> (formal apology to the astronomy nerds, i just realized that andromeda and cassiopeia aren't visible in the spring)
> 
> oh, and the quote at the end is from "king" by lauren aquilina. it basically fueled this fic and i would definitely recommend it~


End file.
